#lhummon.

Alex: [:video attached:]

Alex: Got in my car to drive home from training and look whats on the radio!!!

Alex: sdfkjsfd I'm so happy for & proud of you!

[ 3 minutes later ]

Alex: Sorry, knee jerk reaction there.

No matter how long Alex was away from California she knew it would always be her home. Nothing gave her quite the same feeling as stepping out of LAX into the perfect socal air always did. It was where she grew up, where she honed in on her sport enough to decide she wanted to be serious about it and try to make it a profession. It was even where she played college soccer. Almost everything good in her life (besides Charlie, of course) stemmed from the LA area, there was too much to let go of, which is exactly why she still held onto her Manhattan Beach house despite barely ever having the time to enjoy it especially in the last few years with the World Cup and now the Olympics. She always considered renting it out but pretty much anyone would know that wasn’t the best idea. Thinking of herself as famous still never sat well with Alex but she was realistic enough to recognize that her name and face were well known enough that if someone found out it was her house things could definitely go awry. She had certain friends and family members bring up staying there but for some reason nothing ever felt right. Nothing until she found out Levi just moved to the city. That was a huge move to make and he’d been to that house with her before, something familiar would probably be nice and comforting amongst everything else that was overwhelming and new right? She had that haven to offer and wanted him to take it. Of course she knew he would fight her on it at first but at least over texts he agreed and that was good enough for her until she could take him there again to make sure it was something he really wanted and not just because she was pushing it on him. It just really was such a sin to waste such a gorgeous house and view. 

Palm tree after palm tree lined the streets her uber driver navigated to get her from the airport to her parents’ house in Diamond Bar. They had been begging her for more Charlie time which was convenient since she didn’t want to have to bring her daughter along with her to see Levi again for the first time in what felt like forever even if it was only less than a couple years. It was still surreal that she was talking about him in present time again after his name, his voice, his face, all became things of her past, a past she thought for sure would more than likely stay there, not because she wanted it to but because she assumed that after everything that had happened there was no way of salvaging what they once had and if she was being honest she would always kick herself for ruining what never even really got the chance to start. Maybe this could be the beginning of making up for lost time? Maybe it wouldn’t actually be anything more than a friendly landlord and tenant situation. Alex didn’t have the slightest clue what any of this meant for them but her eagerness to find out had her shamelessly changing her flight to one a day earlier and now here she was back in the city of angels to see someone who had coincidentally never been anything but a complete angel to her. 

“You don’t mind watching her, right? I feel like I could use a shower after the flight and then I want to run over to my place and see how everything is. I’m gonna meet up with a friend who might be staying there.” She told her parents as she bounced Charlie on her knee giving her cheek a kiss before passing her off to sit in Alex’s dad’s lap. With that the striker was running up the stairs to take a shower and get herself more presentable to see Levi. Sure the sweatpants and ponytail would’ve been just fine but showing up with her hair freshly washed, her favorite pair of jeans, a fitted t-shirt and some makeup on made her feel a lot more confident even if it was just completely friendly. You could want to look nice for friends, right? Just a few little spritzes of her signature perfume and Alex was running down the stairs feeling like a teenager again saying goodbye to her parents before going out. “I know you two know her routine by now but you can always call or text me if you need anything. Thank you again.”